Did you know that people have a more productive work day on gloomy days? It’s no wonder I feel scatter-brained so often living here in Colordo with 300+ days of sunshine a year!

However, yesterday was one of those rare days of gloomy weather, and you know what? I was so flipping productive because of it! Wednesday is a write posts/articles + write programs day, and I worked right up to my 1:00 trail run date with Amy.

The picture above was taken mid-way through our run. Luckily for us, the skies parted and the sun peaked out for the entire time we ran, and then by the time we were finishing up, we looked west and heard a boom of thunder and the beginnings of rain!

Talk about perfect timing! I love this trail, and I’ve only run it with Amy! It’s about 5 miles, and leaves me pretty smoked afterward due to the hills and long gradual incline. And then it proceeded to rain buckets for a good hour before the sun came back out. I love me a good thunderstorm, and was just telling Amy how I missed them – we don’t see them too much here in the front range of Colorado.

When I got back from my trail run, I spent another hour at the computer productively writing this post.

My most recent certification in the fitness industry was my Health Coach cert, and I have to say, I learned quite a bit during my 6 months of studying for the exam. Not only did the extensive text in the Health Coach manual provide new information, but the additional reading (yes, I’m one of those nerds who reads nearly every ‘suggested further reading and studies!’) did as well.

Anyway, I jotted down the subject of today’s post as a “future blog post” to share with you all, and finally got around to writing about it. So, today, let’s talk about the #1 reason people abandon their Weight Loss Plans.

“I don’t have enough time to workout between work and family.”

“It’s too expensive to eat healthily on my budget.”

“My family/partner won’t support me in my weight loss efforts.”

“I just don’t have the will power not to eat junk food.”

These are all reasons that I’ve heard clients – or potential clients give as a reason that they have given up on their weight loss efforts. From time to will power to lack of support, there are endless excuses to why people quit their attempts to eat better and exercise. But do you know the #1 reason?

Stress.

source

Stress is the most common reason people abandon their plans to their change behavior in order to do what’s necessary to lose weight.  It might not be the first reason they offer up, because it’s less tangible than defaulting to a reason such as say, lack of time. However, stress depletes self-control, decreases feelings of self-efficacy, and decreases energy and motivation – all qualities that are paramount to losing weight via good nutrition and exercise.

We live in a world where high pressure jobs and jam-packed schedules are glorified. For some reason, being “crazy busy” has equated to being successful, but it also typically equates to a high stress lifestyle. Too much stress triggers negative emotions and anxiety, resulting in people seeking other ways to feel better.

Sometimes, people cope with these negative feelings of stress by eating emotionally (rather than listening to hunger cues,) and relying on more comforting foods, that usually contain higher sugar and carb amounts. On the flip side, some respond to stress with a diminished appetite, causing them to eat less than normal. Either way, both of these coping mechanisms lead to more stress and possible avoidance of a healthy lifestyle.

Moreover, this stress becomes the forefront of people’s lives, naturally, and takes priority over striving for a healthy lifestyle or modifying eating and exercise habits.

In today’s culture, stress is inevitable. It’s how we deal with our stressors that will make or break our efforts of changing behaviors for a healthy lifestyle. But how do we do that?

How do we manage stress in order to keep a healthy lifestyle as a high priority?

The short answer is: monitor stress levels and manage them  by making modifications that create as little stress as possible.

Sure, weight loss is not always easy. When you’re making behavior changes to lose weight, it takes time, self-control, self-efficacy, and motivation. That said, weight loss efforts don’t have to be super stressful.

Make 1-3 changes in your lifestyle at a time.

Weight loss (or just adopting a healthy lifestyle) doesn’t have to be a complete life overhaul. Try making one or two changes at a time, and mastering them. Maybe your goal is to lose a pound a week. Perhaps one of your changes would be to talk with a health coach or nutritionist about your calories intake, and begin counting calories. Maybe another one is to add a 20-30 minute walk to your daily routine. Both of these are excellent behavior changes, and will make a huge different in your lifestyle!

Decrease overwhelm by planning ahead.

It’s the end of the day. You’re on your way home from work, and starving because you had to skip lunch due to meetings. Maybe your first instinct is to hit up a drive through or pick something up, because thinking of a recipe, and then taking an hour to cook it seems way too overwhelming. First off, I always recommend stashing emergency protein bars all over the place, in case you need to grab a quick bite between meetings. Secondly, take some time to cook in bulk. The next time you’re making chicken for a meal, cook 2-3 times more than you’d need. That way, you have your protein already cooked, and all you need to do is add it to a plate with veggies, a salad, a taco, etc.

Enlist help.

Many people are afraid to ask anyone from help because they see it as a sign of weakness. I see it as a strength. So you have a tendency to skip your workouts? Hire a personal trainer! Have too much on your plate at work? Perhaps there are some things you can delegate to co-workers. Even if grocery shopping is typically “your task,” perhaps you can ask your partner or roommate to handle it every once in a while.

Find time to meditate.

I don’t mean wake up 20 minutes earlier and sit on the ground with candles and start chanting. I mean on your way to work, instead of thinking about the list of things you have to do, think about why you’re thinking about that list. Can you spend that time in you car peacefully enjoying just ‘being?’ Same goes for when you’re in line at the store, sitting at your desk, or any time that’s spent idly being stressed.

Don’t fight with reality…learn from it.

I feel like a broken record with this one, but when I heard it, it made such an impact on me. To quote Byron Katie, “when you fight reality, you lose…but only 100% of the time.” Life is what it is, and we can make it suck a lot more by being mad at it, or having a “why me” attitude. OR, we can accept it, realize it was meant to happen because it DID happen, and see what we can learn from it.

How do you deal with stress to minimize its affect on living a healthy lifestyle?

Thunderstorms: love em or hate em?